As the Summer approaches, more and more civilians are enjoying more outdoor activities, including walking and cycling to different locations in the area. WDUN spoke with the Hall County Sheriff's office on remembering to follow laws regarding pedestrian safety to lower the risk of a potential accident.
In the last four years, 18 of the total vehicle related fatalities in Hall County were pedestrians, a number that is considered concerningly high for the area. According to Lt. Todd Casper with the Hall County Sheriff's Office, many of these deaths could have been prevented had the pedestrian followed Georgia’s state laws referring to pedestrian safety.
“It's simply that they were violating Georgia State law,” he said. “And in whatever act they were doing, walking in the roadway, or what have you, there were several of them that were either under the influence of drugs or under the influence of alcohol, which is in addition, a nationwide trend.”
Aside from pedestrians being under the influence, one of the most common causes of pedestrian involved accidents is misunderstanding when they have the right of way over vehicles while walking.
“In the state of Georgia, a pedestrian, unless on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk, has no right of way on a roadway,” Lt. Casper said.
However, pedestrians may still walk in roadways as long as a vehicle is not approaching them.
“In the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, there is no such law as violation of the law jaywalking,” Lt. Casper said. “You can cross a roadway in a location that is not a crosswalk, as long as you're not within so many feet of a crosswalk, a pedestrian bridge or something of that nature. You can cross a roadway and that is not jaywalking. However, state law says you will yield to a vehicle and you cannot cross the roadway when a vehicle is coming.”
Despite this, even when a pedestrian does not have the right of way, motorists are still expected to exercise due care when approaching a pedestrian, especially if they are a child, clearly confused, intoxicated, incapacitated person and use the horn on their vehicle to warn them that they are approaching.
Lt. Casper also reminds pedestrians to keep themselves safe by wearing light or reflective clothing when walking. You can also walk on shoulders if there are no crosswalks and keeping a lookout for oncoming traffic as you walk.
